The SaaS Podcast - Building SaaS in the AI Era
Omer Khan
Podcast
Episodes
Listen, download, subscribe
Bootstrapped SaaS Growth: $0 to $1M ARR in 90 Days | Submagic
David Zitoun bootstrapped Submagic from zero to $1M ARR in just 90 days—then scaled to $8M ARR with a 14-person remote team. No VC money. No sales team. Just TikTok videos and an army of affiliates. In this episode, bootstrapped SaaS founders will learn how to go viral with zero followers and build a scalable affiliate program. David breaks down exactly how he recruited 50+ affiliates paying 30% lifetime commissions, why he went viral on TikTok from day one with zero followers, and the bootstrap-friendly growth playbook that took Submagic from idea to $8M ARR in two years. In this episode, David also shares why lowering prices—not raising them—broke through a $5M plateau that stalled growth for seven months, and how WhatsApp groups with early customers turned them into free product managers. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 Bootstrapped Growth Engine: How David went from $0 to $1M ARR in 90 days using TikTok and affiliates—with zero ad spend. 💰 The Bootstrap-Friendly Affiliate Playbook: Why paying 30% lifetime commissions to young creators built an "army" posting daily content for free. 📱 Go Viral With Zero Followers: How one TikTok video hit 100K views in 10 days from a brand new account. 📉 Breaking the $5M Plateau: Why lowering prices—not raising them—restarted growth after seven months of stagnation. 🤝 Customer-Led Product Development: How WhatsApp groups with early customers turned paying users into free product managers. Chapters Introduction and the "Opportunity" Quote What Submagic does and who it helps Revenue ($8M ARR) and bootstrapping to $1M in 90 days Origin: Solving the "Alex Hormozi caption" problem Finding a co-founder through YC Co-Founder Match The 12-month MVP experiment pact Building the first ugly MVP (one feature only) Selling on TikTok with zero followers The first viral video: 100K views in 10 days Building WhatsApp groups with early customers Scaling with 50-70 TikTok affiliates at 30% lifetime commission Why timing and product-market fit matter more than tactics Advice: Talk to your customers, not acquisition channels What "iterating a lot" means in practice Gut feelings: How to know when to stop iterating Scaling from $1M to $5M ARR (SEO, influencers, word of mouth) Hitting the $5M plateau for 7 months Breaking through: Lowering prices and launching Magic Clips How David thinks about competition Lightning round: Advice, podcasts, habits, and passions 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/446 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe
The SaaS Podcast - Building SaaS in the AI Era RSS Feed
